Sunshine and Chanterelles

The day started off a little stormy, but that only got me thinking about mushrooms even more and when the skies cleared and the sun started shining, I hit the woods. Glad I did, too, because they were up everywhere in large patches and nice and fresh with hardly any little varmints ruining the mix.

Found three different kinds of chants, well maybe only two. It is hard to tell. I found some small patches of the common yellow chant and large patches of the orange smooth chants (they were out in force). But in one area, I found a small patch of what looked liked smooth chants. They were smaller in stature and not as stocky and when I turned them over, they have well defined ridges just like the common yellow. I guess these were the same species c. cibarius but they were bright orange and nothing like the mustard yellow ones I normally find. I will have to research this a little more and see if there is a distinction or if this is just a color difference.

It is so easy to hunt chants as they their bright colors really make them stand out. Large patches become seas of orange amidst the green and browns of the forest floor. Just make sure that you are not picking the poisonous Jack-O-Lantern mushroom which can look an awful lot alike. They are bright orange as well, but have well defined gills and grow from wood not the ground. Check out Mushroom Expert for more information.

I find a lot of chants in areas between the hills where water drains off during rains. Often they are growing all along these gullies so if you find a patch follow where the water would go, both down and uphill and you're bound to find more.

If you do go chant hunting this weekend take a large basket because you are bound to do well. Mine is about 1 1/2 feet across by 2 feet long and today it got really, really heavy...but I didn't mind one bit.